Good behaviour bond for anti-Pell court and church vandal

A MAN who vandalised court and church buildings calling for George Pell to be jailed has been slapped with a good behaviour bond.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, today admitted to the early morning attacks on Melbourne’s County Court and the Catholic Church’s headquarters.

5fdd6a836069e59464032b8b299e8cc9 

George Bell: School to remove bishop's name after abuse claim

A Sussex school named after a former Bishop of Chichester alleged to have sexually abused a child in the 1940s and 1950s is to be rebranded.

The Diocese of Chichester paid compensation and apologised after sex abuse allegations were made against the Rt Rev George Bell in a civil claim. He was Bishop of Chichester from 1929 until his death in 1958.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-35359859?post_id=10204672433356106_10205897422500069#_=_ 

I told mom my stepdad was sexually abusing me and she said I had to practise forgiveness'

Ruth Wariner was the thirty-ninth of her father's forty-two children, growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turn a blind eye to the practices of her community. She lived in ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity. 

After Ruth's father - the man who had been the founding prophet of the colony - was murdered by his brother in a bid for church power, her mother remarried, becoming the second wife of another faithful congregant. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3407512/Woman-grew-41-siblings-polygamous-cult-tells-childhood-sexual-abuse-beatings-finally-escaped-age-15.html

Did a Philadelphia altar boy lie about sex abuse?

Serious questions have been raised about the credibility of the young man whose accusations landed four men—including Msgr. William Lynn—in jail.  Newsweek has published an in-depth investigation into the accuser behind a Philadelphia sex-abuse scandal that landed four men in prison, including two priests and a former priest.
Under the provocative headline “Catholic Guilt? The Lying, Scheming Altar Boy Behind a Lurid Rape Case,” the article by Ralph Cipriano details the numerous gaping holes in the story—or stories—Daniel Gallagher (“Billy Doe” in court proceedings) told of having been raped by two priests and schoolteacher as a fifth- and sixth-grader.

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/4513/did_a_philadelphia_altar_boy_lie_about_sex_abuse_inewsweeki_investigates.aspx

‘Historic shift' in Ireland's attitude to church sex abuse scandal

IRISH-American film director Tom McCarthy said he believes Ireland is leading the way in addressing the Catholic Church child sex abuse scandal. But he warned the Church must do everything "humanly possible" to root out the abuse and ensure it never happens again.
The director, born in New Jersey to Irish parents, made the comments at the UK premiere of his new film Spotlight, which tells the story of a 2001 newspaper investigation exposing the child sex abuse scandal in Boston, America. He told the Press Association he thought the Church had "absolutely" woken up to its past abuse.

http://www.irishnews.com/news/republicofirelandnews/2016/01/20/news/-historic-shift-in-ireland-s-attitude-to-church-sex-abuse-scandal-389727/ 

Truth must rise above all

HOPE MUST PREVAIL: Survivors of clergy sexual abuse will continue to fight an uphill battle until the Catholic Church acknowledges the extent to which it covered-up sex crimes against children.  A survivor likened the Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse to peeling back the layers on an onion.
Each time you peel back a layer, there is another underneath but slowly and steadily you move closer to the core of it. To the truth. With each layer another survivors emerges from out of the darkness with their own story to tell. Often, their stories are so gut-wrenchingly similar, it's as if each of the survivors are holding a mirror to one another. And, there are those who don't have a voice because they've died prematurely and the ones who turned to suicide because the pain of the sex crimes was too great to bear. The commission gives the ones they left behind somewhere to finally place their precious story in the hope their death will be a part of a profound change to protect children of the future.

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/3579441/truth-must-rise-above-all/

Long-lost brothers celebrate their first Christmas together after 80 years apart

Two brothers who spent 80 years unaware of each other's existence are celebrating their first Christmas together. Frederick O'Donnell (78) and his brother Jimmy (80) were born in separate mother and baby homes in Dublin in the 1930s.

They met each other for the first time this year. They were united thanks to a Herald story about how Frederick had discovered he had a brother and was now seeking help to track him down. The Finders International company responded, and located Jimmy, who was living in Cheltenham in England.

http://www.herald.ie/news/longlost-brothers-celebrate-their-first-christmas-together-after-80-years-apart-34302409.html 

Independent Ireland was a cold house for ‘undeserving poor’ and ‘incorrigible idle’

Notions of self-reliance and social and cultural superiority which fed early twentieth-century nationalism in Europe had little place for those seen as the undeserving poor.

Welfare reform, especially of the Irish Poor Law system, was a key facet of republicanism and nationalism in revolutionary and Free State Ireland. While the focus has traditionally been on the political, militaristic and, more recently, cultural aspects of this highly formative period, closer exploration of welfare and poor law reform provides much insight into the social attitudes underpinning Irish society.

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/independent-ireland-was-a-cold-house-for-undeserving-poor-and-incorrigible-idle-1.2442018 

State unable to extradite Australian educator wanted for sex abuse

Victims complain that court unable to advance proceedings against Malka Leifer, wanted for 74 counts of indecent acts and abuse at Jewish school, because of psychotic episodes.

For more than a year, the State Attorney’s Office has been trying without success to extradite an ultra-Orthodox woman who is wanted in Australia on 74 counts of sexual assault against Jewish girls who were her students in a Melbourne school.  

http://www.timesofisrael.com/state-unable-to-extradite-australian-educator-wanted-for-sex-abuse/

Abuse survivor hopes 2016 sees results from Vatican safeguarding body

Marie Collins, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, and member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, sat down with correspondent Sarah Mac Donald before Christmas in a personal capacity. *
Irish clerical abuse survivor Marie Collins has said she hopes 2016 will see results from the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, despite the "frustratingly slow" pace of the reforms being developed by it.

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/abuse-survivor-hopes-2016-sees-results-vaticans-safeguarding-body 

Bishop says Church accepted responsibility for sex abuse

Helena Bishop George L. Thomas said the Church had a duty to step up and accept responsibility for former priests and other employees who were accused of sexually abusing children, and he said it would have been wrong not to acknowledge their pain and suffering.

Thomas told the Independent Record in an interview that the Church could have fought claims by people in Montana who said they were abused, but it would not be right and they might never have seen a resolution to their cases.

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/01/18/bishop-says-church-accepted-responsibility-for-sex-abuse/?s_campaign=crux:rss 

Hutchins School admits more could have been done for victims of sexual abuse

Prestigious Hobart boys school, The Hutchins School, has admitted that "more could have been done" to respond to concerns about the sexual abuse of students.

The school has formally responded to findings of abuse at the school, which were outlined in a report by the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-19/hutchins-admits-more-should-have-been-done-for-sex-abuse-victims/7098788 

Catholic Whistleblowers requests Vatican investigation of flaws in US bishops' sex abuse policies

After years of raising concerns to U.S. bishops about potential holes in their clergy sexual abuse policies to little avail, a group of Catholic advocates has requested Vatican intervention.
Catholic Whistleblowers, in a formal request for investigation, alleges the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has not followed through fully on its policy of zero tolerance toward abusive priests and deacons, in part because its guidelines lack a mechanism to assure that bishops send the necessary cases to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In addition, the organization argues that the conference uses a higher bar than church law to determine which cases require review by Rome.

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/catholic-whistleblowers-requests-vatican-investigation-flaws-us-bishops-sex